4. The Union Cabinet has given its approval for enhancement of retirement age of government doctors’ to 65 years to strengthen the healthcare sector in the country.

Union Cabinet has approved proposal forwarded by Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Cabinet has approved the superannuation age of Public Health and Non-Teaching Specialists of Central Health Service from 62 years to 65 years Doctors of General Duty Medical Officers (GDMOs) sub-cadre of Central Health Service (CHS) from 62 years to 65 years.

5. Railways flags off 1st time-tabled freight train.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has flagged off India’s first timetabled freight train, named ‘Cargo Express’, from Delhi to Bengaluru.

The move aims to reduce the delay and uncertainty over the time schedule for delivery of goods.

6. The United States (US) Senate (Upper House) has unanimously approved amendment to enhance military co-operation with India.

The amendment is done as part of National Defence Authorisation Act -2017.

Military co-operation with India will be for developing military doctrine, threat analysis, force planning, logistical support and intelligence collection and analysis.

7. Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani has launched Vidyanjali, a school volunteer programme in New Delhi.

Vidyanjali is an initiative under Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat, to enhance community and private sector involving government-run elementary schools across the country.

Through Vidyanjali, the government aspires to bring change in the quality of education in schools.

8. First batch of three female fighter pilots commissioned.

Creating history, the first batch of three female pilots – Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh were inducted in Indian Air Force fighter squadron.

On successful completion of their training, the trio were formally commissioned by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

International – Across the Globe:

1. Australian Great Barrier Reef rodent has become the first mammal species driven to extinction by human-induced climate change.

It is also known as Bramble Cay melomys.

It was revealed after researchers in extensive survey (searches) failed to find a single specimen from its only known habitat on a sandy island in far northern Australia.

The main reason for extinction Bramble Cay melomys is anthropogenic climate change.

Facts you should know: Bramble Cay melomys is a small rat-like (rodent) animal species in the family Muridae. It is Great Barrier Reef’s only endemic (found nowhere else) mammal species.

2. Norway has become the first country in the world to prohibit deforestation.

Norwegian Parliament had pledged to make government’s public procurement policy deforestation-free.

Norwegian Government has taken steps based on official recommendations of Norwegian Parliament’s Standing Committee on Energy and Environment as part of the Action Plan on Nature Diversity.

3. A small regional Florida bank, Stonegate Bank has made history.

The bank issued the first credit card that can be used in Cuba.

That could make it easier for Americans to travel and work on an island largely.

The award was given by American Diabetes Association (ADA) for his pioneering research on diabetes in South Asia.

4. Mohun Bagan announced that it will honour country’s only Dronacharya football coach Syed Nayeemuddin with the Mohun Bagan Ratna.

Nayeemuddin was chosen for the prestigious award for his overall contribution to the club and the country both as a player and as a coach.

Syed Nayeemuddin is an Indian football coach and former player.

5. Kerala Tourism won four awards at ‘FilmAT’ which is one of the biggest international film festivals dedicated to tourism, art and ecology in Poland.

Three of the honours were given to a single campaign.

‘Responsible Tourism’ initiative started by Kerala Tourism won three awards under categories of the Best Promotional Social Campaign, Protection of Nature, and Eco-Food categories respectively.

The tourism board’s ad film ‘The Great Backwaters of Kerala’ won the ‘Best Editing Award’.

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Appointments & Resignations:

1. Peter Thomson, Fijian diplomat has been elected as President of 71st session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Peter Thomson defeated Andreas Mavroyiannis of Cyprus by 94 to 90 votes, with one abstention.

By this, Peter Thomson becomes the first representative from the Pacific island states to get elected for the largely honorific post in the UN’s 71-year history.

Fact you should know: Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit was first and only Indian to serve as President of UNGA in 1953. She was also the first woman President of UNGA.

2. Rakesh Ranjan Prasad, the senior-most Judge of the Manipur High Court Justice has assumed charge of the Chief Justice of the High Court.

He succeeded Justice Laxmi Kanta Mohapatra.

Earlier in February 2016, President Pranab Mukherjee had transferred Justice Rakesh Ranjan Prasad from Jharkhand High Court to Manipur High Court in exercise of his powers conferred to him by Article 222 of the Constitution of India.

3. G Kalyanakrishnan, a famous scientist has taken charge as Chief Executive of Hydereabad based Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC).

He succeeded Dr. N Saibaba, who had retired on completion of two years of extended period of service.

The NFC is a major industrial unit of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), for the supply of nuclear fuel bundles and reactor core components.

4. Israel has been elected to chair a UN committee for the first time in the world body’s 71 years history.

Israel has got 109 votes in secret voting.

None of the member has voted against Israel.

5. Fijian diplomat Peter Thomson has been elected as the President of 71st session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Thomson will begin his tenure in September 2016 at the commencement of the 71st session of UNGA and will replace incumbent President Mogens Lykketoft.

6. Ranu Langthasa was unanimously appointed as the chairperson of the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) in Assam on 13 June 2016.

With this, she also became the first women chairperson to be appointed to the post since the formation of Autonomous Council in 1950s.

The NC Hills Autonomous Council can be described as a state in miniature having all the paraphernalia of a Government like Legislative, Executive and Judiciary.

7. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman, Bharti Enterprises, has been elected as the Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

The ICC World Council elected the new leaders at a voting held in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

He takes over fromT erry McGraw, Chairman Emeritus of S&P Global, who will subsequently become ICC’s Honorary Chairman.

He is the third Indian business leader to hold this position in ICC’s near 100-year history.

8. Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway was named as the Global Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women.

In her new role she will focus her efforts on injustices mothers around the world and also challenging issues like unpaid leave, wage gaps and a lack of access to affordable childcare.

They provide easier and cost-effective route to foreign investors to invest in Indian markets without directly registering as Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs).

The aim of SEBI’s stricter KYC, disclosure norms is to make it tougher to use these offshore instruments that do not disclose the money-trail and details of their users.

2. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued guidelines called Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A).

The main aim of these guidelines is to strengthen the lenders’ ability to deal with stressed assets and to put real assets back on track of entities facing genuine difficulties by providing an avenue for reworking financial structure.

The RBI has formulated the S4A as an optional framework for the resolution of large stressed accounts.

3. A cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the takeover by State Bank of India (SBI) of several subsidiaries.

SBI wanted to take over five units that had been running at arms-length, as well as state-run Bharatiya Mahila Bank.

The merged entity will create a banking giant, which can compete with the largest in the world with an asset base of almost Rs 37 lakh crore, with 22,500 branches and 58,000 ATMs as on December 2015.

4. The Union Finance Ministry has announced that non-resident Indians (NRIs) can now open National Pension Savings (NPS) accounts online i.e. through eNPS if they have Aadhaar Card or Permanent Account Number (PAN) card.

Earlier, NRIs could open NPS accounts only through paper based applications by approaching Bank offices.

5. India’s largest public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI) has created a dedicated IT innovations and startup fund and have set aside Rs 200 crore for investment in promising startups.

The fund would be extending upto Rs 3 crore for any India registered company for promoting their business in India using information technology for banking.

Science & Technology:

1. Scientists using NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope have discovered a Jupiter-like circumbinary planet named Kepler1647b orbiting a system of two stars.

The planet was discovered by astronomers from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre and San Diego State University (SDSU).

KST is an unmanned space observatory launched in 2009 by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).

2. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), a Public Sector Power equipment manufacturer has commissioned 195 MW unit at Muzaffarpur Thermal Power Station in Bihar.

KBUNL is a joint venture (JV) of NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation) and BSPGCL (Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited).

The first 195 MW unit was commissioned in March, 2015.

BHEL is a power plant equipment manufacturer completely owned by Union Government.

Fact you should know: It is the largest engineering and manufacturing company of its kind in India.

3. Inder Malhotra, famous journalist, editor and author passed away. He was 86.

He passed away following illness in New Delhi.

He had served as a resident editor of The Times of India and The Statesman.

In his journalistic career he had mapped the ebb and flow of the Indian politics under every Prime Minister of independent India.

He also received Ramnath Goenka Lifetime Achievement Award (2013).

4. Famous Television actress Ann Morgan Guilbert died after battling with cancer. She was 87.

She began her TV career in the 1960s, appearing on popular programmes such as I Dream of Jeannie, My Three Sons, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Partridge Family, Love, American Style, and The New Andy Griffith Show.